What Is The Declaration Of Independence

It took many years of frustration in the colonies for the idea to declare their independence came about. Once the fighting had started at Lexington and Concord, congress debated whether or not the fight with England could still be resolved. The idea of independence was popular in many places (very prominent in the northeastern colonies), but somewhat foreign to people in the southern colonies.
Delegates from 12 of the 13 colonies congregated in Philadelphia to discuss the matter of separation from England. Georgia did not send delegates to represent their colony. There was one man who was 100% ready to vote for independence, his name was James Wilson. A man by the name of Richard Henry Lee was sent by the Virginia Convention to try and force congress to act on this matter. Finally, a decision was made, and the delegates had voted that their relationship with England was beyond repair and that the colonies were ready to break away from their oppressors. A committee of five delegates was assembled to draft The Declaration of Independence. The members of this committee included Thomas Jefferson (the youngest delegate at age 33, and the official writer of the Declaration), John Adams, Ben Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston. The “Committee of Five” was assigned their task on June 11, 1776.
Did the “all men created equal” with “unalienable rights” and access to “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” apply to the millions of African slaves held in our country? The author relays to us that the Declaration and its writers played important roles in the future abolition of slavery. George Washington stated that the war may depend on “which side can arm the Negroes the faster.” Delegates later accepted Africans fighting in the Continental Army because it was better to have more people fighting along the colonists for freedom then against